


Starfilled evening

by Antares10



Series: The Game of Our Life [6]
Category: Homestuck, Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mario is confused but glad for everything, Mario struggeling with stuff from the game, Other, Peach is the best there is, dancing in the moonshine, musing about stars, seriously this is sweet fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 04:44:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5150720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antares10/pseuds/Antares10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mario and Peach's epilogue.</p><p>It's just a evening they spend together. And even if Mario sometimes loses himself in his musing over the Game and what it implies for their life, free will and everything else, he can always count on Peach to be there for him when he needs her to. </p><p>There are many reasons why Mario loves Peach so much. This is one of them.</p><p>(Timeline: Plays after "The prince, the princess and the plumber")</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starfilled evening

The moon was full this night and the night perfect for seeing most of the stars. Mario marveled at the beautiful night sky. Stars were a central point in the mythology of the Mushroom Kingdom, some of them protecting the land, some the people, some granting wishes.  


He himself always felt the protection of the stars, knowing that there was something inside him that linked him to the power that surrounded his homeland. It was a warm glow, something that always was by his side, no matter where he was, what he was doing. Even deep into the bad lands, inside Bowsers own castle, he felt the power inside him.  


He had often wondered in the past why the stars seemed to protect Bowser as well as him, his brother and Peach. What was so special about these children they once were that the stars themselves placed them under their spell, under their protection, regardless of what would become of them?  


Sure, it could be an after-effect of the Game, something that herded him into the role of the hero and if that was true, then this power most likely would look out for his nemesis as well. There was no hero if there was no villain. The Status Quo had to be maintained. Well, that was how the Game saw it, Mario was sure.  


The though wasn't very reassuring. A power that manipulated their whole lives, that had chosen the fate and role of him for him. A power that his brother had unleashed in best intentions with a questionable outcome. There was a question of free will and a question of what was real. What was because of the Game and what was because of him, Mario?  


_(What would have happened if Luigi hadn't loved him so much, if he had felt resentment for Mario in the last game? What if he had been cast into the role of a villain, of a bad person, or of someone powerless to move or change or do anything. Come to think of it, how much could he even change? What if he had TRIED to do something different? The more Mario thought about it the more he felt a special kind of dread, of powerlessness. He hated it, he hated it so much. And he knew that now, how he was now, he wouldn't do anything to change his fate. He just tried really hard to tell himself that the game was no more. He could make his own decisions now.)  
_

But no matter what reasons, no matter the circumstances how it came to be, Mario was happy with his life. He couldn't image any other one for himself. Other than Luigi, he never regained any memories of their other lives, never knew the other Marios he could have been and had been. Never knew what could have been his fate if things went different, if wishes were never made or spoken different.   
  


Maybe it was better that way.   
  


But tonight, the stars were simply that: Stars, beautiful and distant and he told himself that he could forget for a while what they meant to him.  
  


And then he saw Peach and all thoughts of stars left his mind.   
  


She was beautiful, as always. A tall figure, tall in life and tall in mind, blond hair that had a golden touch in the sun and a slightly silver one in the soft moonlight. Her dress was pink and her gloves white and spotless. There were some jewels on her but Mario would be hard pressed to describe them. He would say that they sparkled, but he couldn't make out their colours very well in the pale light.   
  


But he would remember her smile and her eyes. Big and blue and her expression gentle and understanding and Mario knew that if she wished for the world, he would bring it to her feet. But she never wished for anything, never asked for anything he didn't already give. She just came to him and held out her hand.  
  


He took it and soon they were standing, her slender arms around him and his strong hands around her. Maybe there was music, maybe there wasn't, he wasn't really sure, but they slowly began to dance.  
  


And she smiled the whole time.   
  


“It's a beautiful night.”, she said, still swaying with him.  
  


“It is.”, Mario said, not quite knowing what to say. There was so much and so little he could say to the princess.   
  


“You are tense.”, Peach said, still smiling, not asking, only stating.  
  


Mario hadn't noticed. He really hadn't. His mind was as relaxed as it gets, there was no danger, only him and the princess and the sky full of stars. He looked at her, startled, and only now he noticed the strain of his shoulders, his arms, his back, his legs. He wasn't sore, he wasn't in pain but he wasn't relaxed as much as he thought he was.   
  


“Are you afraid?”, asked Peach.   
  


Mario looked up to her, looked in her big, blue eyes. He couldn't see the colour now, it was much to dark now.   
  


“I don't know.”, he said. The though entered his mind, but he drew blank. He stared at Peach, his mind screaming in a language he couldn't understand. “I... don't know.”  
  


And Peach smiled gently and raised a hand, taking his hat right from his head. Mario blinked at her, confused. The hat was a symbol, like her crown, like the stars and the mushrooms, like Bowser's face on his castle flag. It was an identity, the only link to his long-forgotten past, real and fabricated from the game that took over their lives so many times. His red hat with the iconic M, the one every citizen inside the Mushroom Kingdom knew. The one that marked him the hero of the land.   
  


And Peach took it and placed it gently on the ground beside them, looking at Mario again. He felt strangely naked without it. His head felt cold and it was strange to feel the wind tugging on his hair. The hand returned to his head, delicate long and slender fingers combing through his hair. The other arm of Peach came around him. He was still in a confused state as her whole body came closer. It was a hug, warm and gentle and Mario was never so confused in his life.  
  


It wasn't the first hug he had gotten from the princess. They had known each other since they were babies and even longer than that. How many lifetimes had passed until today? How many times had they played this game with their lives and destiny? He didn't remember anything, he didn't know about them. He only had his memory of this life, of this game, of this thing he had now.   
  


But something was different now. He wasn't Super Mario, not now. He wasn't the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, he wasn't nothing special now. Just a friend, just a person, just a human in the gentle embrace of a woman who was so much, such an huge part of his life and who he admired so much.  
  


“You don't have to be him all the time.”, Peach said, quietly and Mario didn't understand, not really, mind still full of warmth and the smell of flowers and honey. “Just relax. I got you.”  
  


She had, hadn't she? Just as much as he got her, whenever she needed him.

  
“But...”  
  


“No, Mario. The game might have placed you in a role, but you are not the role. You are the hero of my land, yes, but you are still you. And you are allowed to be human. To rest, to err, to be not perfect.”  
  


He blinked, unseeing, just the dark fabric of Peach's dress in front of him. He felt his shoulders sinking slowly. Millimeter after millimeter. 

He didn't feel fear often. It was strange to him. Many feelings were strange to him. He knew now what Luigi had done and it explained many things for him. But it didn't make it go away, the confusion he had sometimes, the bad days when he struggled to understand the feeling that something was missing and knowing at the same time that he couldn't bear gaining it back, just as much as Luigi couldn't ever give it up, even if he wanted to.  
  


But now? He supposed that this feeling was pretty close to fear and he didn't even know why.   
  


“I don't know.”, he said. “Sometimes... I can't think.”  
  


“Don't.”, Peach said. “You said it yourself. It's how you are. I am there, I pick up the things you can't. I will be there when you need me, just like you are there for me.”  
  


Mario couldn't help but smile, even when Peach couldn't see it.   
  


“Like a team?”  
  


“Like a team.”, she said.   
  


The hand left his head, gliding down to his chin, pushing his face gently up. She was still smiling, her eyes big and dark in the dim light and her face full of shadows. But she was leaning down, pressing her lips carefully between his eyes. He felt himself closing his eyes. It was always strange, how much he felt from just so little affection, so little contact. He felt like drowning and breathing freely for the first time at the same time. So strange, but he loved it so much.   
  


The seconds that were ticking inside his heads were stopping, faltering, falling away and as far as he knew, only she could make him feel like that.   
  


“It's late.”, she said. “We should go.”  
  


Mario couldn't say anything, couldn't do anything. The embrace ended, but one arm stayed around him. He opened his eyes, seeing that Peach had picked up his hat again.   
  


“Do you want...”, she began but Mario shook his head. 

  
“Not. Keep it... please.”, he said, quietly. “Just... for the night?”  
  


And there was another thing he loved about her: She understood, smiled, nodding and held onto him and the hat. They went back to her castle, which was dark now, only a few lights here and there indicating that it wasn't empty.  
  


He slept sometimes in the castle. Not often, only when late-night conversations turned into really-late-night conversations and the trip to his own home would be simply not practical and too long. More often than not he slept in one of the guest rooms, just down the hall from Peach's own room. Sometimes sleep overcame him still sitting on the nice couch in Peach's study room.   
  


Today, he just followed her. He didn't register much, just let himself be guided to a room, to a bed. He knew the feeling of Peaches magic, of her sleeping spell, the one that let him sleep more peaceful and without nightmares. Magic surrounded him and he welcomed it. He felt softness and the warm embrace of fabric, of slender arms and a gentle hand on his head.   
  


Sleep overcame him, taking things away he couldn't name and he felt the tension bleed from him like a bad dream.   
  


He slept better than any other night since the Game, his head light and his mind lighter, as if something was lifted from him, just for a while. In his dreams he was dancing with Peach under a sky full of stars that were nothing more and nothing less than distant lights in the dark.

 


End file.
